In Chicago, Danny Ecker wrote one year after the White Sox "dramatically cut ticket prices across the board, the team is keeping prices flat" in '14. Prices in all season-ticket seating sections "will be unchanged next year." One new feature next year is that the White Sox will spell out the "specific costs of the 12 percent city and county amusement taxes as opposed to just noting that they exist." The Blackhawks and Bulls this season "employed a similar tactic to play up the exact values of the ticket taxes teams pay" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 10/31).
CHAIN OF COMMAND: In DC, Adam Kilgore notes the Nationals on Thursday hired D-Backs 3B coach Matt Williams as their new manager. Bench coach Randy Knorr "will return to the Nationals' coaching staff even after the team bypassed him" for the managerial position. Knorr’s presence in the dugout "could be seen as a strange dynamic -- players openly lobbied for him to become the manager, and now he will be present as Williams works to mold the team in his image." However, Knorr’s personality "will help alleviate that concern," as he is "not the undermining type, and he does not expect any awkwardness" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/1).
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE: Baseball writer Murray Chass wrote of Red Sox President & CEO Larry Lucchino's dealings with former manager Bobby Valentine, "I don’t know if Lucchino has acknowledged his mistake publicly, but his decisions beginning with Valentine speak volumes for him." Not everyone who "makes mistakes in front of millions of people can acknowledge the errors of his ways, but Lucchino did and he deserves credit for that." Lucchino "also deserves credit" with GM Ben Cherington for the "roster makeover that fueled the Series triumph" (MURRAYCHASS.com, 10/31).
